The First Defiance
by lickitysplit
Summary: I'm sure that many of you, like me, have been curious as to how James and Lily got together. So I called up JKR and asked her. She filled in all the details for me, and I wrote them down in this story. No, really, I did. JRo and I go waaaaaaaay back.
1. Back at Hogwarts

Summary: I'm sure that many of you, like me, have been curious as to how James and Lily got together. So I called up JKR and asked her. She filled in all the details for me, and I wrote them down in this story. No, really, I did. J-Ro and I go waaaaaaaay back.

A/N: This is my first story I've put up here, so I'm pretty excited. Flame on, if you must!

I think everyone knows I don't own Harry Potter. I did think him up, but I sold the idea to JKR for $20 and a meatball sandwich.

The first weekend back from summer holidays was always a hectic one at Hogwarts. Students spent the time going through their schedules and unpacking, but most of the time was used for catching up with everyone else. In the Gryffindor common room, nearly the entire house was gathered there, talking and laughing and sharing stories. In the middle of the commotion, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black were reenacting the story of how they fought off fire-breathing scuffers during their vacation in Germany. The other sixth year students knew that they were making it all up, but were enjoying the story nonetheless.

Across the room, Lily Evans and Remus Lupin were busy helping first years find their belongings and hanging up notices on the message board in the common room. As prefects, they were trying to organize the house before the term began. Remus was also half watching his three friends entertain the other students. During one particularly outlandish part of the story, Remus laughed along with everyone else.

Lily was not impressed. "Why do you laugh at them? It isn't funny. They are acting like complete dolts. How can you even be friends with them?"

"Don't pay any attention to them then, Lily. Everyone knows it's a joke."

At that moment, a fire bolt shot across the common room and hit the message board, whizzing by Lily's head. Whirling around in shock, she immediately saw the other Gryffindors rolling with laughter. James still had his wand pointed in her direction, a look of shock on his face. Sirius had fallen over and was gasping for air. "Evans… your face…" Sirius had trouble saying through his laughter.

Lily fumed over to where James stood. "What do you think you are doing?" she yelled at him.

"Just having some fun, why? Is something wrong?" James grinned.

"Of course there is! That thing almost hit me! Are you trying to burn down the school?" Lily was growing more furious by the moment. Sirius caught sight of Remus trying to douse the small flames and doubled over again with laughter.

"Don't get yourself all upset," said James. "No harm was done. I was just trying to demonstrate I—"

"I know what you were trying to do. Just stop it, before I take points away from Gryffindor!"

The other students went back to their own conversations, tired of the now-familiar fight that had been reoccurring between James and Lily since their first year together. Sirius stood next to his friend. "Lighten up, Evans. You're getting worse every year."  
"I could say the same about you," she answered coolly.

James held up his hands. "You know what you need Evans? A date with me. Want to go out?"

Lily couldn't help laughing. "You're kidding, right? You've been asking me this since last year. And the answer is the same. No." With that, she stormed off to the girls' dormitories.

"She's a lost cause, mate."

But James just shook his head. "It's going to happen this year, I'm telling you."

The next day, the Gryffindors had History of Magic with the Ravenclaws. After class was over, everyone headed down to lunch. The Marauders left together, talking and laughing down the hallway. Lily spotted them while talking to another girl in Ravenclaw. She said a hasty goodbye and approached the four boys.

"Watch out, Prongs, your girlfriend is coming this way," said Sirius.

James turned around and quickly ran his hand through his hair. When Lily walked up to them, he said in a deep voice, "Hi, Lily. How's it going?"

Lily rolled her eyes, ignoring him. "Remus, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Uh, sure. What about?"

"Yeah, what about?" James said.

"Alone?" Lily asked Remus.

"Hey, anything you can say to him you can say to us," Sirius said.

Lily sighed. "Please?" She grabbed Remus' arm and led him away. James watched them and mouthed What are you doing? to Remus. Remus shrugged and let Lily pull him down the hallway.

When they were away from the group, she stopped and said, "Remus, I owe you an apology."

"An apology?"

"Yes, for what I said yesterday. I'm sorry that I snapped at you about James and Sirius. It's not your fault that they act like idiots. And you're their friend. I shouldn't hold that against you. You're a good guy, Remus, and I like you a lot. I consider us friends. And I shouldn't say those things about them in front of you. I feel like I put you in an awkward position, and I'm sorry."

"Um, thanks, Lily. You know, they really aren't that bad," Remus replied.

Lily chuckled. "Maybe not to you. Anyway, still friends?"

"Sure." Lily smiled and gave Remus a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying off to join a group of Gryffindor girls.

As soon as Remus arrived at lunch, James pounced on him. "Well, what did she want? Did she say anything about me? And why are you all red?"

"I'm not all red," he said as he sat down.

"Yes you are," Sirius teased. "You're blushing."

"Well?" James demanded.

"She just wanted to apologize." Quickly Remus filled him in on the conversation.

"She thinks I'm an idiot?" James said.

Sirius laughed. "Of course she does. She says it about fifty times a day. When are you going to give up? It's been over a year and she still won't go out with you. Just get over it! You should go out with someone else."

James shrugged. "I don't know what it is. I just can't. I want to go out with her. There's just something about her, and it's driving me nuts."

"You're already nuts."

Later that evening, James and Remus were studying together in the Gryffindor common room. "I'm never going to get this done! Who cares about stupid goblins?" James threw his parchment on the table and flounced down on the couch. A couple of other students looked over at the sudden shout. James took his snitch out of his pocket and began to toss it in the air and catch it. The room returned to quiet for a few minutes as everyone else got back to their homework. All of a sudden, James sat up and grabbed Remus on the arm.

"I've got a great idea!" he whispered.

"What?" Remus replied, shaking off James' hand and returning to his essay.

"You can help me to get Lily."

"Oh, no. No way."

"Come on, mate. You're friends with her. Maybe you could find out why she won't go out with me, maybe put in a good word . . ."

Remus laughed. "There's no way she'll buy it. She'll know immediately what I'm doing."

James lay back down on the couch. "Then what am I going to do? I can't stop thinking about her. It's her fault I can't finish my homework. She's taken over my mind. Remus," he said in a serious tone, "you are the only one who can help me."

Remus finally put down his quill. "I don't think it will work."

"But you'll try, right? You'll find out what she wants?"

Remus just sighed and went back to his work. There was no way to talk James out of something once he got an idea in his head. The best thing to do, he figured, was just to let James ride this plan out until he thought of a new one.

Lily was also finding it hard to concentrate. She slammed her book shut. They already had a huge amount of homework, but after reading the same page four times, she decided to quit. It was all James Potter's fault she couldn't finish. She hadn't been back to school for a week and already James was trying his best to annoy her. He was so arrogant, so conceited! Just because he was a good quidditch player, he thought he could do whatever he wanted. Lily shook her head. All the girls loved James, but she knew better. She didn't care how popular he was, she would never be interested in him.


	2. James' Plan

Autumn quickly slipped by. Most of the students were busy with school work and making plans for the upcoming winter holidays. The four Marauders spent their time like they had every other year at Hogwarts: namely, playing pranks on other students and trying to get away with as much as they could. As team captain, James spent a lot of his time on the quidditch field as well. Gryffindor beat Slytherin in their first game together of the year, and he had hoped to use that to his advantage in getting Lily. Although she was excited her house had won, she seemed to be the only person who didn't congratulate him personally. In fact, shortly afterward she starting dating a Hufflepuff boy named Thomas Shay. Unfortunately, it ended after only a few weeks. Lily and Thomas had gone to Hogsmeade together, and James had followed them around the entire day. When they returned to Hogwarts, Thomas told her he didn't want to date anyone with her own fan club.

"What is wrong with her?" James asked his friends for the four hundredth time. He had been watching Lily while they ate dinner. She was sitting further down the Gryffindor table with some of her friends, joking and laughing. Occasionally, a girl would look over to where the Marauders were sitting together. But Lily never looked.

"As your best mate, I feel it's my duty to tell you to just forget it! It's not going to happen," replied Sirius.

"I just can't figure it out," he continued, ignoring Sirius. "Why? Why won't she go out with me?"

"She seems to like guys who are really smart," said Remus.

"I'm smart!"

"But you don't worry about your grades."

"Maybe you should try ignoring her completely," suggested Peter.

"Maybe you should buy her something," added Remus.

"Maybe you should hex her food with a love potion," said Sirius.

James sighed. "You are all not helping."

"Maybe you're just too tall."

"Maybe your breath stinks."

"Maybe she only likes vampires."

"Enough!" James turned back to his food while the other three continued to make outrageous suggestions. He thought about what Remus had said. Maybe that was it. Maybe she wanted someone who was boring and cared only about school. Well, if that's what she wanted, that's what she was going to get.

He shared his new plan with his friends. "I'm going to devote myself fully to studying. No more breaking any rules. No more goofing around."

"I give it one week," said Sirius.

However, James proved him wrong. Almost as soon as they returned from the winter holiday, it was as if James was another person. He was no longer playing pranks on Slytherins or hexing people in the hallways. When he wasn't practicing quidditch, he was studying. His teachers remarked on his new devotion to his studies. During one particular Transfiguration class, the professor had declared him the top student in the class.

Lily had also noticed this sudden change in James. After another Potions class where James had emerged with the highest marks, she wondered about it out loud while relaxing in the common room one evening. "What do you think has gotten into him?" she asked her friends Candeline Cross and Apple Gladstone.

Apple shrugged. "Maybe he's trying for head boy next year. Why do you care all of a sudden? I thought you didn't even like him."

"I don't," Lily said quickly. However, there was a twinge of something that she couldn't quite pinpoint. James had also stopped asking her out every chance he got. She hadn't noticed until Valentine's Day had come, and she received a box of chocolates from James. The chocolates were all shaped like animals, and whenever she opened the box they started to dance. The present made her realize that it was the first time in weeks that he had done anything to get her attention. She hid the chocolates in her room, and never admitted to anyone that they had really made her laugh.

"Right, Lily," joked Candeline. "Handsome, popular, and now super smart? Even you can't resist him."

March arrived, and suddenly the Daily Prophet began reporting on a wave of attacks that had killed and injured several witches and wizards. No one knew who was behind the attacks, which means that everyone was under suspicion. Finally, one morning the paper arrived and announced that Lord Voldemort was responsible for the deaths. He had recruited an army of dark wizards and witches who were carrying out his attacks. Voldemort had only been a whispered threat among the wizarding world. Now he seemed to be starting a war upon them all, and it was almost impossible to tell who had sided with him and who had not.

The students at Hogwarts talked about this new threat daily. Several students had been sent home because they had family members who had been attacked. The threats grew steadily worse, and then an attack was made on a wizard who lived near Hogsmeade. A trip to the village had been already scheduled for the following weekend, and many students were on edge. The night before the trip, Dumbledore made an announcement at dinner.

"I know many of you have been following the tragedies that have struck many of our friends as the result of Voldemort and his followers." Students shivered at the mention of the Dark Lord's name. "I, however, would not wish to see fear of this evil bring a halt to our school activities. Therefore, the trip to Hogsmeade will still commence tomorrow. Any students who wish to stay behind may do so. Those who decide to go, please be aware that there will be security in the town. If you see anything suspicious, report it to a staff member immediately. We must all work together during these dark times. The Dark Lord will only win by breaking us apart with suspicion and fear."

In the Gryffindor common room that night, the students huddled together and talked about Dumbledore's announcement. "I'm not scared of those Death Eaters," said Sirius loudly. "I just hope they try something tomorrow."

"Oh shut up," said Charles Churley, one of the fifth year students. "You'd be scared to death if you came across one of the Death Eaters."

"That's what you think," Sirius said, standing.

"It is, in fact," said Charles, standing up to him.

"Stop it, both of you." Lily jumped in between them. "Remember what Dumbledore said. We have to stick together. It won't do if we have Gryffindors arguing among themselves!"

"Stay out of this, Evans," said Sirius.

James walked over and pulled on Sirius' arm. "Come on, leave it alone." He led Sirius to the other side of the room. When they were out of earshot, Sirius said, "What's with you? Any other time you'd be there to back me up."

"I was backing you up," said James, "and keeping you out of trouble."

"Don't do me any favors." Sirius pushed James away and stalked out of the room.

James looked over and saw Lily watching them. He walked over to where she sat. Lily suddenly became very interested in her book.

"Lily, can I talk to you?"

Lily looked up. "All right, I suppose."

"Sorry about that," James said.

"You don't have to apologize for him," said Lily.

There was an awkward silence. Then James said, "Will you be going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

Lily nodded. "I doubt anything will happen anyway. I'm not all that nervous."

"I guess I'll see you down there then." James walked back to where he had been sitting. Lily followed him with her eyes. Again, he didn't ask her to go out. And he had called her Lily. A few months ago, she would have gotten ten invitations from him by now. James had definitely changed.


	3. Hogsmeade

James and Sirius walked around together in Hogsmeade the next day. Peter had gotten himself detention and wasn't allowed to go. Remus was feeling ill, as he always did when the full moon began to approach. The two boys spent the afternoon checking out some of the new items in Zonko's. James was also keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of Lily.

The mood of the town was very somber. Wizards walked together in huddled groups. Usually when a group of Hogwarts had come down for the day, the streets were nosy and busy. Today, everyone was very subdued. The evening approached, and as twilight came James and Sirius made their way slowly back to where the school's carriages waited to take students back to Hogwarts.

A scream tore through the relative quiet of the streets. Everyone stopped and looked around. Other people began to scream as well. By this time everyone had seen the trouble: the Dark Mark was hanging above Hogsmeade, the sickly green skeleton looming over the town. All of a sudden, people began to run. Witches and wizards began to come out of the shops and taverns to see what the commotion was. As soon as people recognized the mark, they began to run towards their homes. The streets of Hogsmeade quickly became mass confusion. People began pushing and shoving, trying to get away from the mark. James and Sirius became separated in the panic.

Quickly James looked around. He was being pushed along by the crowd when he spotted Lily standing to the side of the street alone. He pushed his way over to her. "Lily, are you all right?"

Lily shook her head. "Someone pushed me over. My leg really hurts." She tried to take a step and winced.

"Come with me." James put his arm around her and helped her hobble to the side of the walkway. It was almost impossible to hear anything above the din of screaming and panic. James took Lily around the side of a building and into the back alley. "Where are we?" he wondered out loud.

"Look," Lily said, and pointed to a door. On it hung a sign: "Deliveries for Honeyduke's only. Customers, please use the front door." James reached out and pushed the door open, helping Lily inside. "Are you able to walk?" James asked her. Lily nodded. The back room of the shop was dark and silent. They felt their way towards the front of the store, when they heard raised voices. Lily and James crouched behind the door to the main store.

"There's no use in refusing. The Dark Lord wishes your service. You will give it to him," said a deeply chilling voice.

"No! Leave my store, now!" yelled another voice.

James opened the door slightly. They could see the shop owner crouching in the corner, while two darkly robed figures stood above him. They had their wands out and pointed at the man. "You've left us no choice," said the first voice. "The Dark Lord gets what he wants."

James turned and looked at Lily. She was staring at him with wide, frightened eyes. They both knew that the two figures were Death Eaters, and that they had to act quickly if they were going to help. "Petrificus, on three," James whispered to her. Lily nodded silently, took out her wand and held it tightly. He counted to three, and both of them burst through the door. "Petrificus totalus!" they yelled at the same instant. Streaks of light flew from their wands and struck the two men. They were both knocked backwards and to the floor, completely immobilized.

James rushed over to the store owner, who appeared to have fainted. Lily followed, breathing heavily. "James, what are we going to do?" she asked. He turned towards her, but suddenly stopped and stared at something over her shoulder. Slowly Lily turned around. Standing there was a tall figure wearing robes black as night. The hood covered his face completely. Lily walked backwards until she bumped into James.

"Very well done," said the figure. His voice sent shivers down Lily's spine. He seemed to almost hiss at them, but the voice was also very cold, and very cruel.

James grabbed Lily and pulled her behind him. "Leave us alone," he said quietly.

Voldemort laughed. "The two of you would make fine Death Eaters for my army."

James raised his wand. "Never," he said coldly.

"There are ways to change your mind," said Voldemort. He raised his wand and pointed it at them. Lily clutched James' arm, too terrified to speak.

The front door opened, and someone walked into the shop. "Lumos," said a deep voice, and light filled the room. James and Lily turned and saw Dumbledore approaching them, his eyes on Voldemort.

"Why, Professor," sneered Voldemort, "always there to defend those without the power to protect themselves? I wonder, will you ever be tired of trying to save the world?"

"I make it a point to know where my students are," Dumbledore responded evenly. "James, take Lily and leave. Now."

"No need," said Voldemort. He disapparated from the store with a loud crack. Dumbledore seemed to let go of a deep breath and turned to the two students. "Are you both all right?"

James took a step forward. "I think so, Professor." He looked back at Lily. "Are you all right?" he asked her, concern coming over his face. But Lily was still staring wide-eyed where Voldemort had stood. She was trembling very badly. James held her arm, afraid that she would fall.

"Take her back to Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, "and deliver her to Madame Pomfrey. She may be going into shock." With that, he called out the door and a group of wizards came inside. They began to check on the wizards who remained in the store.

James led Lily out into the street, which was nearly deserted besides wizards from the Ministry. They walked together to where the last of the carriages were awaiting Hogwarts students. James helped her inside and they rode in silence back to the castle. He still held her arm, but Lily didn't seem to even know he was there. She just stared out into the evening, never saying a word. When they arrived back at school, he walked her inside and towards the infirmary. "Lily," he whispered. "Say something." No response came.

When they arrived at the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey immediately put Lily to bed while James filled her in on the events in Hogsmeade. "The poor thing," she said. "What a terrible fright." She shooed James out, promising that Lily would be all right with rest. James walked alone back to the Gryffindor wing. He could not forget the look in Lily's eyes.


	4. Dumbledore's Office

Every student at Hogwarts was discussing the attack the next morning at breakfast. Upon arriving in the Great Hall, James was mobbed by students who wanted to know everything about his confrontation with Voldemort. James ignored them as he searched the room with his eyes. He saw Lily's friend Candeline sitting on the very end of the Gryffindor table. Quickly he walked up to her. "Candeline, where's Lily? Is she all right?"

"She's not back from the infirmary," Candeline said. "I was hoping you could tell me if she was all right or not. I haven't been able to see her. What happened?" Candeline showed him the article in the Daily Prophet that she had been reading. The front page headline read:

ATTACK ON HOGSMEADE

CAN THE DARK LORD BE STOPPED?

Lower on the page, James read:

TWO HOGWARTS STUDENTS FOIL DEATH EATERS

"Oh no," James whispered. He looked up at Candeline. "I should try to find her before she sees this."

"Madame Pomfrey won't let anyone see her. You'll have to wait."

James sighed and went to sit with his friends. He and Remus read the entire article together while Sirius threatened curses on anyone who tried to come over and ask James about the attack. During breakfast, the mail arrived, along with a concerned letter from his parents. It said that Dumbledore had sent them an owl explaining what had happened, but they wanted to hear from him directly. James crumpled up the letter and put it in his pocket. "I can't deal with them now," he said.

"Keep staring and I'll make your eyeballs fall out," Sirius yelled at students sitting at the Ravenclaw table.

"It's okay, Sirius," James said.

"Come on, Sirius, Prongs doesn't need any more attention," said Remus.

James came across another letter. It had his name on the front and nothing else. Opening it, he read:

Mr. Potter,

I'd like to have a word with you and Ms. Evans in my office

as soon as possible. Please meet me immediately after breakfast.

Be sure to bring chocolate truffles.

Professor Dumbledore

"It looks like I'm going to Dumbledore's office," he said. James stood and made his way out of the Great Hall. When he reached the statue outside of the headmaster's staircase, he said the password, "Chocolate truffles." He walked up the stairs and knocked on the office door. When there was no answer, he slowly opened the door. "Professor?" he said into the room, stepping inside.

Dumbledore was not there. Lily was, however, sitting by herself in one of the chairs by the desk. She looked up in surprise when he came in the room. "James?"

Without thinking, he rushed over to her and gave her an awkward hug. "Lily! Are you all right?" She didn't return the hug he gave her. Quickly he let go. "What happened to you?"

Lily blushed. "Madame Pomfrey said I was in some kind of shock. From being so scared, I suppose. I feel rather ridiculous."

"You shouldn't. No one can blame you for being scared."

"You weren't scared. You didn't even blink." Lily looked at him seriously, like she was accusing him of something.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. But they were interrupted by Dumbledore entering the office. The two students quickly stood as he walked over.

"Please, have a seat," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the two chairs that sat in front of his desk. He moved around the desk and sat in his own chair. "That's much better. Now, I've asked you both here so that we may discuss the events of yesterday. But first things first, Lily, my dear," he said, turning to her, "how are you feeling today?"

"Much better, Professor," she said quietly.

Dumbledore looked at her closely for several minutes. Then he turned to James. "Please, I would like to hear of how you both ended up in Honeyduke's yesterday. I would read about it in the Prophet, but I'm sure your version of events is much better."

James told the story of how he had found Lily and they took refuge in the back of the store. He told him how they had taken out the Death Eaters together. "Interesting," said Dumbledore. "Please continue."

James looked at Lily. "Do you want to finish?" Lily shook her head, so he continued with how Voldemort appeared. He tried to tell Dumbledore what was said word for word. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lily with her head down. He finished with when Dumbledore himself entered the shop.

"I must say, James, that that is quite a story. I am impressed with how you both handled yourselves. Wizards much older and wiser than you would have found themselves unable to act in such a situation. I believe that Gryffindor should be awarded fifty points each for such good work." He focused his attention on Lily. "Fear can be just as helpful as it is harmful. Like love, or jealousy, or pride, it can help shape our choices. The trick is to allow fear to be just that: a choice."

Lily shook her head. Tears slowly came down her cheeks. "Professor, I don't deserve those points. If James hadn't been there, I'd probably still be crouched in the back of the store. I couldn't even move. He's the one who chose not to be afraid."

"And yet, even though you were afraid, you still acted. You still did the right thing. And now you've learned what you can overcome."

"I will never be scared like that again. I won't ever let myself feel like that." She looked over at James. "I'm sorry." James shook his head, surprised. He didn't know what to say.

Dumbledore stood. "With that, I send you back to enjoy the rest of your day. And may I make one more observation: the two of you make quite an excellent team. I must remember to call on you again when I have a difficult task to accomplish." He bowed his head slightly. James and Lily quickly stood and left the office. At the bottom of the stairs, they stopped.

They stood in silence for a few moments. Neither knew what to do. Finally, James said, "Lily, I don't know what all that was about, but—"

"Please don't," she said. "I still feel a bit ridiculous about how I reacted yesterday. So all I want to say about it is thank you for helping me yesterday."

James looked at her silently. "Say you're welcome," she told him.

"You're welcome," he said, smiling.

"No rude comment? You really have changed a lot."

James put his arm around Lily's shoulders and began to walk her down the hallway. "Now that we're such great friends, do you want to go out on a date?"

Lily laughed. "Don't press your luck." But she let him keep his arm around her. It was a start.


End file.
